to worry or not?

formerlyGDaisy09

So my 17 month old dalmatian has had a few accidents in the last couple months, all have decent explinations, however I'd like to make sure I'm thinking right. 

3-4 times in the last 6-8weeks she has peed on the couch.  each time has been after a particularly busy day when she's gone pretty much non-stop all day. For example last night, she ran 5 miles with me (4 as part of a road race so we were pushing the pace and there were 1000 other people running, so there was lots of excitement in addition to the running). then we spend the rest of the afternoon at an outdoor festival, lots of wagging, barking, and attention. and then a few friends came for dinner.  eventually dog passed out on the couch (she did her regular post-dinner business before she fell asleep).  Sometime during her nap she peed on the couch.  this is pretty much exactly how each peeing incident has gone down...dog gets super tired, falls asleep, and pees in her sleep. 

She had a couple accidents like this right after she was spayed, at that point the vet said that  since she's young so she sleeps hard, is on prednisone for allergies so drinks more, and had abdominal surgery that may have weakened some muscles that it wasn't something to worry about at that point. 

She was fixed at 10 months old, she went through one heat cycle before that, we have not had any other accidents in the house.  should i just chalk this up to exhaustion and be more diligent about waking her to go out when we've had a busy day? or is this something I should engage our vet in? H and I didn't even think to wake her because she is usually so good about asking (read:demanding) to go out when she needs to go. 

for now I'm thinking this is probably no big deal, we just need to let her out (or make her go out) after a busy day...does that sound fair?

aggiebug

Even if it seems to be exhaustion induced that is not normal. Incontinence is common in female dogs and without meds tends to get worse over time. Not only that but a dog with uncontrolled incontinence are prone to infections as well.

Talk to your vet get her on some meds.

formerlyGDaisy09

aggiebug said:

Even if it seems to be exhaustion induced that is not normal. Incontinence is common in female dogs and without meds tends to get worse over time. Not only that but a dog with uncontrolled incontinence are prone to infections as well. Talk to your vet get her on some meds.

thanks Aggie. the vet's reaction 6-7 months ago was that it was too close to her spay surgery for it to be spay-incotinence as she would still have plenty of hormones floating around in her system a week after surgery. 

I'm e-mailing the vet this morning...seems we've been making weekly visits there for one thing or another in the past month...is this something where she'll want to see the dog or is it a clear enough diagnosis that we can just start meds? she had her hands on the dog 14 days ago, she is not behaving like this is a UTI, she can control it when she is awake and doesn't ask to go out frequently, and does not repeatidly squat when she is out.  

aggiebug

That really depends on the vet.  If I had seen her 14 days ago and you called me about that I would have you bring in a urine and check for a UTI because it is still possible.  If it was neg for a UTI then I would go ahead and start her on meds.  

I also suggest starting on the recommended dose and then slowly tapering to the lowest effective dose. I have a dog  that is on a half a pill every 3 days to control symptoms.  

formerlyGDaisy09

Thanks Aggie, 

still waiting for a return call from the vet (a little longer than usual, but someone drove a car into the front of their building last week, so I'm sure they've just got a lot going on.)

we are familiar with the med-taper...we currently play that game with the prednisone to keep pups allergies under control until allergy testing will tell us what causes that. when she isn't super itchy we've got her down to 5 mg every other day to keep excessive itching and ear-infections under control 

formerlyGDaisy09

urine sample dropped off. she had 3 accidents last night (one while she snoozed on the couch, one after I kicked her into her bed in the living room, and one overnight in her bed in our bedroom). I'm considering buying stock in Natures Miracle. 

aggiebug

I Hope you get answers soon

formerlyGDaisy09

the urine sample did come back abnormal, so we're treating a UTI with antibiotics.  so far so good, no additional accidents *knocks on wood*. it must have been painful to urinate because she seemed to be holding it whenever I let her out (like would wander around for 20-30 minutes and not do anything and then come inside and pee in her sleep). 

Glad we've got answers